Siege of Osdarth (83)
This page is still in progress. Siege of Osdarth (83) The Siege of Osdarth in 83AD was the decisive engagement of the Nesarian-Osdarthian War, also known as the Nesarian Invasion of Osdarth, and it was the longest siege that Emperor Athdus III fought in. Although Osdarth had technically been under siege since mid-82, actual fighting only began in February of 83. Since Osdarth had plentiful food supplies and the capacity to produce some food within its walls, Athdus had no chance but to assault the walls to get through. This was very bloody for both sides, and the whole affair built up a lot of frustration amongst the Nesarian soldiers, who proceeded to sack Osdarth after enemy resistance fell apart. Athdus was furious at the behaviour of his soldiers, and he would never forgive himself for causing such atrocities to the city. Prelude Osdarth had two layers of walls; the sea wall, which was smaller but harder to attack given that it directly bordered the sea, and the city wall, which was taller and thicker but firmly on land. Behind the city wall was the urban centre, and between the sea wall and the city wall were the farms. Prior to the siege, Athdus had wrestled control of the sea and destroyed much of the Osdarthian navy, which had already been weakened in the war against Indissia. The Osdarthian navy was rendered completely incapable by a fire that erupted in their docks in early February - it is still unclear what exactly caused this. Athdus blamed Indissian spies, the Indissians claimed it was either an accident or the Nesarians, and the Osdarthians maintained that it was both the Indissians and Nesarians working together. Breaching the Sea Wall Athdus made several minor assaults across the sea wall in late February, testing its defences in various spots. He noted that the large gate which blocked off access to the wide canal leading inland was the weakest point of the wall, but also the most heavily guarded. Athdus then ordered one major assault on the gate each evening for four days, drawing much blood on both sides. On the third and fourth evenings, Athdus also launched assaults on the western side of the sea wall, the side furthest from him. These again failed. He was criticised by many of his subordinates for this, and his soldiers began to lose the will to go on after the costly failures. On the fifth evening, the Osdarthians were once again expecting an attack on the gate and the western side, drawing most of their forces towards those areas. Athdus launched his attack later than usual, sending groups to the gate and the western side, but with the cover of the darkness he sent his entirety of his remaining army to the eastern side, where they met very little resistance. The Osdarthians quickly noticed the vast army that was now atop and beyond their walls, and approximately a third of them were sent to the scene to cover the retreat of the rest, who fell back to the city wall. This freed up the walls to allow the rest of the Nesarian army to scale them. Seeing how Athdus' plan had fallen into place, the spirits of the Nesarians were greatly boosted. The Osdarthians who were left to cover the retreat fought doggedly for several more hours, only retreating at midnight, dispersing amongst the farmland. Athdus set up camp for the night, but the camp was continuously harassed by Osdarthian soldiers until the early hours of the morning, giving the Nesarians little sleep. Besieging the City Wall The Nesarians continued to face persistent resistance from Osdarthian soldiers who stayed out beyond the city wall, so Athdus ordered a systematic search across the farmland, isolating and surrounding Osdarthian soldiers, forcing them to surrender. To feed the army, Athdus ordered the soldiers to feed themselves off the local farmland. Although he ordered that all food should be paid for, much of the food was simply stolen, and many of those who did pay used money that was stolen from other farmers. Although Osdarth no longer had access to the farms, its food supplies were still vast, and the city wall would need to be assaulted. It took until the middle of March to fully pacify the farmland, and during this time the planting season had begun, so the peasants were too busy to organise any kind of serious revolt. In the city, the army commander Akaro Tenshi was confronted in the parliament by Raeshu Sintijo for letting the formidable sea wall fall in five days. Raeshu was so infuriated by his apparently pathetic protestations that he kicked Akaro in the crotch so hard that he vomited and one of his testicles ruptured. The parliament was similarly enraged by Akaro's failure, and did nothing to stop Raeshu. When Akaro grasped for Echiko Kadinoka (a staunch matirite and political opponent of Raeshu) to beg for help, Echiko strangled him to death in front of the whole parliament. Raeshu was immediately appointed the new army commander. The Nesarians began to construct siege artillery like ballistae and catapults, as well as two large earthen ramps that led up to the city wall. As they got closer to the walls, they experienced increasing missile fire, and the Osdarthians frequently sallied out to disrupt construction of the ramps. The Osdarthians would also frequently send small groups of soldiers to make lots of noise at night, depriving the Nesarians of sleep. However, the Osdarthians were so busy dealing with the ramps that they did not notice the mines being sapped underneath the walls. The sapping was so extensive that by early May, a weaker section of the wall had fallen down entirely as its foundations were destroyed. An assault was launched through this hole, which was beaten back by the Osdarthians who were led by Raeshu himself, but they suffered many losses whereas the Nesarians sustained very little. It was at this point that Athdus noticed Raeshu's bravery and competence. Some sources say that Athdus challenged Raeshu to a duel, which Raeshu rejected, but Athdus makes no mention of this in his diaries. The Osdarthians quickly sealed up the hole in the city wall, and begin sapping operations of their own, digging into the Nesarian mines and underneath the ramps, totally destroying one of them and seriously damaging the other. This back-and-forth continued for many weeks until the ramps were finally completed at the end of July. The Final Assault